This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com

Monday, June 08, 2015

Jim Kimbrough should already be on the Board of Education

I am not a lawyer though I did play one in a two-act drama I wrote for Mrs. Irene Relf's fifth grade class at Triway Elementary School.

Despite that, there is one area of the law in which I was consulted by reporters from many Missouri newspapers and television stations for years after I left the newspaper business in 1999. As someone who covered thousands of meetings during my 22 years as a reporter, I made it my business to learn the ins and outs of what could or could not be discussed in closed sessions.

School boards and city councils like to keep as many things as possible behind closed doors. Though some things are generally accepted as belonging in closed session- items about identifiable students, real estate dealings where the price could be affected, and legal matters for instance, there is absolutely nothing that has to be done in closed session.

The Sunshine Law says specifically that the bodies "may" discuss certain items in closed session. At no place does it say that closed meetings are required.

Quite some time ago, the C. J. Huff Administration began violating the law by dealing with retirements and resignations of teachers in closed session. Nothing in the law allows for that. The personnel exemptions are for "hiring, firing, promoting, or disciplining." Accepting a resignation or acknowledging a retirement does not fall into that category, though it had been keeping people from getting a clear idea of how many teachers were leaving the district.

As I finished reading the Joplin Globe article and checking out the television coverage of today's aborted attempt to have former member Jim Kimbrough returned to the R-8 Board of Education, it did not take long for me to come to a conclusion- Jim Kimbrough should already be on the board. When Board President Jeff Koch, Debbie Fort, and Jennifer Martucci voted for Kimbrough May 26, with Lynda Banwart and Mike Landis voting against, that should have been enough to return him to the board.

The swearing in was halted by Norman Rouse, who apparently was contacted by concerned employees, despite the fact that Rouse's job description is board attorney, not conerned employees attorney.

As you recall, when Kimbrough, Marsi Archer, Sharrock Dermott, Anne Sharp, Dave Guilford, and the rest of the applicants were interviewed by the board, it was done in open session and the same has been true for every vote.

That is because there is no allowance in the Sunshine Law to close the meeting for such a purpose. The new board member is not an employee, therefore you are not hiring him. It is an appointment to serve until the next election.

No matter what Rouse or the predictably overly cautious Missouri School Boards Association says if this is not hiring, and it is not, it comes nowhere near fitting any of the other criteria that would require four votes, therefore the majority of the quorum, three votes, should have been sufficient to put Jim Kimbrough on the board of education and stop this power play by Lynda Banwart and Mike Landis to take the decision making out of the hands of the people who were elected to the board to bring about change and put it in the hands of a County Commission, made up of two people who live outside the district and one who is highly compromised in this situation because of his past dealings with Lynda Banwart, dealings that have still not been mentioned in the Globe.

From the way the Globe article reads, it appears that the people in the C. J. Huff Administration may have undermined this effort to have Kimbrough sworn in as another desperate attempt to hold on to the status quo (and quite possibly their jobs).

15 comments:

I am sick of the Joplin Globe trying to influence the news instead of reporting the news! Everyone who has a subscription needs to cancel it. Call tomorrow and demand that they stop delivering their free Wednesday paper too!

I hope the phone call you made today was worth your job Mrs. Waldo. It is called insubordination, in case you were unaware. You were given a direct order by the man that literally signs your checks and you pissed it away. This, after you followed Randy Steele's directive to "forget" the new board member contracts for this same man, who is now your boss, and Mrs. Martucci, also your boss. Have you honestly turned so blindly corrupt that you would risk your own livelihood to try and hurt a man whose IQ is 50 points higher than yours?

Pat Waldo has not drank the Kool-Aid! She is a very fine lady who does not want to break the law. Lets face it, Jeff had to research it to make sure it was good to go on putting Kimbrough on the board. So lighten up, Pat did the correct thing and really helped Jeff to make sure it is done the legal way in order to keep Kimbrough on the board. I am an employee of the district at a building level and know that Pat is an up-standing person. I am no Huff lover either!

I am willing to give her benefit of doubt, dealing with her years ago I would not think she's gone to the dark side. Rouse however is beginning to look a bit partial is there another resignation coming? $26,000 a year may not be enough for him, After this mess his council may be adequate not not reliable right now. Whoever she/ he told jumped and called media. Again an over play from the resigned/retired. Welcome back Kimbrough!

Since when is keeping the public informed of what's going on stirring up drama? Maybe YOU like to stay blissfully ignorant to what's going on but a lot of us appreciate the Turner Report. Especially since the city's paper of record is a joke. Oh wait, is that what you meant? Since the the Globe is a comedy, the Turner Report must be a drama....I see what you did there.

1. Pat Waldo is an upstanding person. For someone to slander her is shameful, low, and ridiculous. Seriously, go introduce yourself to her and find out what I mean.

2. Persons employed by the school district of Joplin do not work for the Board of Education. They work for the school district, which is lead by the Superintendent. The Superintendent is the employee of the board, and he is ultimately responsible for those employed by the district. The board may issue directives to the superintendent who in turn should lead the staff in carrying those directives out, however the board president does not get to by pass a chain of command so a personal directive may be fulfilled.

3. Pat was exactly right to seek out counsel from her leadership before proceeding with Mr. Koch's request. That's just common sense.

I agree that Pat Waldo is an upstanding and professional person. In addition to her job at the school district, she is the Secretary to the BoE, not CJ Huff, Attorney Rouse, Mike Landis, Annie Sharp, Randy Steele, or Lynda Banwart. In this particular case, I believe she was out of line by going around the directive given her by the Board President. Would she have ever questioned Annie Sharp when she was Board President? I don't think so. Unfortunately, it appears Mrs. Waldo is not impartial and has declared allegiance to Huff and the old Board.

Pat Waldo is a district employee. Granted. She also still works under the direction of CJ Huff. Why else would she fail to bring the paperwork to the signing in ceremony of the new elected board members? I'm sorry but the voters have spoken. Dr. Debbie Fort, Jeff Koch and Jennifer Martucci were elected to fight this bullying and corruption. MILLIONS of dollars have lined the coffers of our "leaders". I challenge you, have you ever met any of the three mentioned people that were elected? I doubt it. The real underbelly is the slime that has run this district into the ground the last seven years. And it starts with their Leader. Goodbye and good riddance. Leave us alone once and for all. We are all moving forward whether you like it or not.

Commonsense also says that you show up to the swearing in of new members with the appropriate paperwork. This was not done. Whas she instructed by any "higher-ups" not to provide that paperwork? The issue at hand is not Mrs. Waldo's integrity, rather the lack of integrity of the people that are still calling the shots and stifling the will of the people. We elected Dr. Fort, Board President Jeff Koch and Jennifer Martucci to ask questions. To get to the bottom of the corruption that the real underbelly of Joplin R-8 is lying to the public about. WAKE UP PEOPLE. MILLIONS OF DOLLARS have been squandered like a teenager with daddy's credit card does. Who ends up paying for it? We do. Steele and Landis got out in calculated moves. That is fact. I won't even broach the Lynda Banwart situation. She is so disappointing I can cry. But not quite like CJ can. Give these elected officials time to make change and quit handcuffing them so that they can. Thank you Randy for actually giving a forum to people that are not blinded by money and greed. Can't wait for the new book.

About Me

I am a former teacher in the Joplin and Diamond, Missouri, school districts. Before entering the teaching field, I spent 22 years as a reporter and editor for various Southwest Missouri newspapers. I have published three novels, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and No Child Left Alive, and seven non-fiction books, The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Scars from the Tornado and Let Teachers Teach.

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